


Lotus of Delight

by flowerywoo



Series: Step by Step [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Implied Mpreg, Jungwoo is a carrier just fyi, M/M, Pregnancy Scares, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 10:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23849590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerywoo/pseuds/flowerywoo
Summary: In which Jungwoo has his first pregnancy scare and, as opposed to popular belief, runs to Jaehyun in full panic ready to have a mental breakdown instead of consulting someone else. Luckily for him his boyfriend is more composed and, despite having no idea of what they’re doing, shows him a whole new side of him that has the babe falling deeper in love with him.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Jungwoo
Series: Step by Step [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1718629
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79





	Lotus of Delight

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this based on one of my sister's /many/ pregnancy scares in the last five years. There will hopefully be many more parts (because I'm weak for pregnant Woo) but we'll see. I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Jungwoo felt sick.

And he didn’t mean sick like a common cold but actually _sick_. It had been nearly impossible for him to leave his bed unless he wanted to kiss the floor and, based on previous experiences where both his brothers had to come to his rescue, the babe decided not to take any chances this time, turning his body away from the door and facing the wall instead.

He had been feeling a little under the weather lately and everyone could tell there was something off about him. His step-father had been rather worried, but he had decided to let the babe come to him instead of pestering him about visiting a doctor.

Doyoung, his step-brother who he absolutely adored, had been monitoring him for the past two weeks and had been making sure to keep the babe well fed and hydrated—even though he regurgitated almost everything he ate, but it was still nice of Doyoung to at least try. After all, they were all still in school and rarely had time to properly sit down and talk about whatever was bothering them—school or personal life, there were no secrets kept between them.

“Woo, mom is calling you. She wants you and Doie to eat something before you go to work,” said Jeno, barging into Jungwoo's room unannounced and pushing him away so he could lie down with him on the bed.

Talk about the lack of privacy in his household.

Having a younger brother—step-brother technically since Jeno was related to Doyoung by blood but they both had been raised by Jungwoo's mother—was not as fun as others made it seem. Jaehyun was lucky he was an only child, but Jungwoo couldn’t imagine living in a house where you’re greeted by silence rather than lousy screams. Of course, most days Jeno was either asleep or at school when he got home, but the weekends were always eventful with his two brothers, and the babe couldn't help the fondness he felt whenever the other two were involved. And could anyone blame him? Doyoung and Jeno had been in Jungwoo's life for such a long time now, making the babe realize that he was far beyond happy to have them in his life.

"Woo? Are you still not feeling well?" asked the younger boy, carefully shaking the elder's body and watching as Jungwoo groaned in response. It had been quite a few weeks since Jungwoo complained about not feeling well, but Jeno had disregarded his complaints since his brother looked fine for the most part—except for those instances where he barely ate anything and complained about random headaches and inexplicable nausea. Two days ago he had almost passed out as he walked back to his room from the bathroom, scaring the living lights out of Jeno since it had been the two of them at home only.

Thankfully, his brother was okay now, or at least he seemed to be. The babe blamed the sudden dizziness on being tired. He had a long day and an even longer shift at work. If anything, Jungwoo was becoming restless over his inability to see Jaehyun over the past few weeks. The elder had been busy with school and whenever he _did_ have time to see the babe, something suddenly came up. Jeno couldn't understand it, but he wasn't desperate to understand it either. Relationships were too complicated for him. Not to mention that he didn’t know much about Jaehyun, other than the fact that he was most likely going out with his brother—and he hated him for that. But that's a story for another day.

Jungwoo was yet to introduce him to everyone properly, but he wasn’t dumb. He had tried asking Doyoung about Jaehyun’s indirect lingering presence in their lives, but that didn’t go so well—even if Doyoung knew anything, the elder would not tell him, for it had nothing to do with them at all.

Yes, Doyoung was the perfect brother and best friend. That was probably why Jungwoo confided in him way more than he’d like to admit.

"My head won't stop pounding, Jeno. It doesn't matter how many painkillers I chug down, none of them seem to work." The younger boy stroked his brother's honey-blond hair and let out a sigh of exasperation. 

Maybe Jungwoo was extremely stressed out because midterms were coming up. Maybe it was his body's way of telling him to take a break. Whenever he didn’t feel good, he looked for Doyoung and Jungwoo. Yes, Jeno was a cuddle monster whenever he was sick and didn’t hesitate to invade the elders' beds for the sake of some body warmth.

So why not share a few moments with Jungwoo before he was forced into his daily adulting routine?

Wrapping his arms around the elder, the child pulled Jungwoo closer to him and pressed the babe’s back against his chest. Jungwoo chuckled momentarily but didn’t try squirming away from his younger brother. Instead, he closed his eyes momentarily and basked in the warmth radiating off the younger male, smiling to himself as the child starting humming under his breath and playing with his honey-blond strands.

Jeno would definitely make someone happy one day.  
But unfortunately, as cute as Jeno was being despite being a little shit and a pain in Jungwoo's neck on daily basis, cuddles weren’t cutting it for him. He still felt like crap. His head was pounding, his tummy was threatening to spill every content within it, and his body cussed him out whenever he tried moving an inch.

He was too freaking sick to function and he couldn’t figure out _why_.

“What’s taking you two so long?” Doyoung barged into Jungwoo's room, much like Jeno had done earlier, and snorted at the sight of his younger brothers cuddling in bed. So much for having brunch together. At this rate, neither one would get to eat before going to work.

“Woo doesn’t feel good, Doie. I don’t think he can go to work today,” said the younger male, turning his head to make eye-contact with the elder whilst still enveloping Jungwoo in a warm embrace. Doyoung stepped closed to both figures on the bed momentarily and checked Jungwoo's temperature. But much like all the other times in the past two weeks, the babe seemed to be fine. There were no other indicators of any potential health problems other than Jungwoo's verbal complaints. 

This was getting out of hand.

“Call off work if you don’t feel good. If this goes on, I’ll take you to the doctor without telling our parents,” said the elder, turning around and leaving the room to go back to the kitchen. Jeno smiled at the babe and pressed a quick peck to Jungwoo's cheek. The honey-blond boy faked disgust but nonetheless smiled to himself as his brother also left the bed and walked out of the room.

Another visit to the doctor. Jungwoo didn’t even want to think about the possibilities of suffering from a chronic disease he had no knowledge of. 

Even so, he tried calling off work and that didn’t go so well. Apparently, someone had already requested for the day off they were short in staff. Hence why , despite feeling like absolute crap, the babe forced himself to get ready and somehow managed to get himself to work.

He threw up twice and nearly fainted four hours into his shift, but he still survived and managed to live yet another day.

* * *

“If I didn’t know any better then I’d suggest a pregnancy, but you’re far too pure for that. I don’t believe for a second you’re sexually active, Woo,” joked his eldest brother, Taemin, as he walked alongside Jungwoo and Jeno to the café near their house.

Taemin was Jungwoo's older brother and up until two years ago he still lived with his mom and his brothers. But then Minho, his now fiancé, proposed the idea of moving in together, leaving the three younger boys behind. Not that they minded since Taemin came over at least once a week. It felt as if the eldest had not left at all considering the amount of time he spent at the house. But Jeno loved it. He idolized Taemin—quite literally in terms of a potential career path, for the boy learned how to enjoy dancing due to the elder's influence—so he was more than content to see him at home every so often.

Jungwoo could care less. Doyoung, much like Jungwoo, didn’t mind at all considering they had a strict policy of spending every Saturday night together. Saturday nights were spent at Taemin and Minho's apartment and they consisted of movies, board games, and junk food. It was a tradition Taemin created back when the kids were younger and he was trying his best to make them familiarize themselves with each other. It clearly worked, or so Jungwoo thought, for they were now inseparable and still kept the tradition alive.

“Jungwoo? Having sex? Come on, Taemin, be serious,” joked the younger of the three unable to stop himself from laughing.

Okay there were clearly a few things Jungwoo hadn’t told his brothers. The main one being that, as opposed to popular belief, from the looks of it at least, he was in fact a horndog. If anything, he was always the one who instigated any form of sexual approach with his boyfriend. Then again, how did he tell his two older brothers that he was sexually active? And needless to say, little Jeno was not kept in the dark either. The eighteen-year-old, much like Taemin, believed that Jungwoo was as pure as a white lotus.

Jaehyun always joked around and claimed he'd expose him to his brothers one day, but those were simply empty threats that Jungwoo couldn't care less about. If anything, his plan would potentially backfire and he'd end up being beaten up by Jeno.

Yes, Jeno disliked Jaehyun that much.

The babe didn’t have the heart to taint that image however, hence why he didn’t even bother responding. Yes, there were no secrets between them, but he was not about to open up about his sexual life. Besides, it isn’t like he was ready to sit through a lecture. If there were truly chances of him being pregnant (and God forbids that’s truly the case) there would be no way Taemin would stay quiet. He was not ready for that just yet.

They walked into the café and were immediately led to a table in the terrace as requested by Taemin. They sat down on the cushioned seats and proceeded to place their orders. Due to Jungwoo's current state of health, the child merely chose to settle for some green tea and a panini, which led to Jeno pointing out that the panini would most likely go home with them only to be eaten by Doyoung later that night.

That had been the beginning of Jungwoo’s personal hell.

“You’ve always had a weak stomach so I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re food poisoned,” said the eldest, causing the babe to think about whatever last junk meal he had that could have caused him to be this sick. 

Interestingly enough he couldn't think of any. He hadn't had any junk food in nearly a month now.

“But there are symptoms that heavily remind me of a pregnancy,” said Jeno, causing a shiver to go down Jungwoo’s spine as he forced himself to swallow the heavy lump on his throat. “What would you know about pregnancies, boy? You’re barely eighteen,” teased Taemin, causing Jeno to send him a playful smirk that made Jungwoo genuinely curious about his little brother’s whereabouts.

“When Baekhyun got pregnant last year, he displayed several symptoms that I’ve noticed on Woo. Think about it for a moment. Jungwoo can’t eat anything without wanting to throw up—”

Not a lie. For the last two weeks, the babe hadn’t been able to eat anything without his stomach rejecting it. Sometimes he didn’t even need to eat, for the smell alone was enough to send him running to the toilet. 

“He has been dealing with constant headaches too. I remember Baekhyun mentioning in plenty of occasions that he felt his head almost exploding due to hormonal imbalance or something along those lines—”

Yeah okay...he had been fighting a _few_ headaches here and there, but he was convinced those were caused by stress and exhaustion. He went straight to work right after his classes twice a week and the other three days he went to work early in the morning so he could be at school in the afternoon. And he also stayed up until late working on his assignments.  
He was definitely not pregnant. He was stressed only, or so he tried convincing himself.

“And one of the things that stands out to me the most is the way I catch him holding onto whatever is around him to not lose his balance. I asked him last week if he was okay after I caught him from falling while he was standing by the porch. I pretend like I don’t notice him when he’s dizzy, but I fear he might hurt himself. And it’s weird too.”

Okay Jeno was exaggerating. He _only_ got dizzy after he stood up whenever he was sitting down or when he made an abrupt movement unexpectedly. Or sometimes when he walks long distances. Or when there’s too much movement around him and affects his senses. And now Jungwoo was definitely trying his best to find _excuses_ to not believe whatever Jeno was saying.

Because as much as he hated to admit this, his younger brother was right. Everything seemed to make sense, but that was not enough evidence to prove anything. There were clearly more symptoms that were supposed to affect him in more ways than others, some of which he still hadn't developed yet. And that was a good thing, right?

“But those are common symptoms for indigestion, a stomach flu, or even food poisoning. What about the feeling of being bloated? What about the constant burping? Baekhyun wouldn’t stop burping throughout the first two months. And the fatigue? He got tired easily.”

 _Check, check, and check,_ thought Jungwoo to himself, unable to keep still now that everything seemed to be making sense. It couldn’t be. There was no way. Jaehyun always pulled out on time. This _must_ be a mistake.

“And let’s not forget the weight gain. That’s the one thing that stands out the most, isn’t it? Didn't he complain about over-sensitivity as well?”

Jungwoo had yet to gain any weight. The babe let out a sigh of relief now that one of the symptoms didn’t fall into the situation. If he was pregnant, there would clearly be some body changes he would have noticed by now, right? 

“He didn’t gain weight until he reached the middle of his second trimester though. He was almost five months when he finally started showing. And from then and on he gained all the weight he didn’t gain during the first few months. He also said his breast swelled a bit and yes, he was overly sensitive throughout his entire pregnancy,” said Jeno, smiling at the waitress who came out with their orders. He proceeded to shove down his Nutella crepes whilst Jungwoo stared at his panini in disbelief—glared even. 

It couldn’t be.

There was absolutely no way this could be happening to him. 

“Woo, are you okay?” asked Taemin, noticing Jungwoo's sudden change of expression. The babe wanted to shake his head and cry, scream even at the thought of messing up this badly. How did this even happen? When did it even happen? He and Jaehyun hadn’t been intimate in about three months now. They didn’t have the time to spend quality time together, let alone get intimate with each other when the most they could be together was roughly two to three hours only. 

How had this happened?

“Woo?” 

The child was pulled out of his thoughts abruptly again, this time by Jeno as he poked his older brother with his fork. The babe sent them both an awkward smile and nodded simultaneously to prove he was okay—but he was far from it.

How was he supposed to break the news to Jaehyun? He had to take a pregnancy test. It was the only way to know for sure. But he needed to do it away from home. And there was no way he could do it alone. He’d probably go crazy if he had to do this alone.

“Being a carrier must be hard. I have so much respect for you and Woo. After Baekhyun's pregnancy I found myself respecting him even more. Carriers deserve more credit for putting up with pregnancies, not to mention the danger they put themselves in for the sake of the baby,” said Jeno, sending his brothers an adorable smile that had Taemin squishing him within seconds and talking nonsense about Jeno being the most adorable brother to ever exist—or something along those lines. Jungwoo was not paying attention anymore.

The babe took a few bites of his panini before his stomach decided it was time to reject the food. The child excused himself momentarily and ran to the bathroom to release whatever contents he had inside his stomach. 

It was getting harder and harder to act normal around his brothers. He had to talk to Jaehyun as soon as possible. 

By the time he returned to the table, Taemin had requested for his panini to be packed to-go, much like Jeno had predicted earlier. At least Doyoung had dinner for tonight now. Taemin had even paid for the bill as well and they were merely waiting for the child to return so they could go home.

Before dropping off the two younger boys, Taemin made it a point to warn Jungwoo he'd take him to the doctor next week if he didn’t get better by then. This only sent a new wave of shivers down the child's spine as he thought about the possibilities of Taemin finding out he was pregnant. 

But it wouldn’t be Taemin only. Doyoung had also warned him he’d take him to the doctor behind his parents' backs if he didn’t get better. He couldn’t let his brothers find out.

It couldn’t happen.

He was running out of time and he still didn’t know how to tell Jaehyun.

The child locked himself up in his room for the rest of the day and allowed himself to cry, for he was far too overwhelmed to do anything else.

* * *

_“Jae, I need to talk to you but it needs to be in person. It’s an emergency.”_   
  
_“Baby, what’s wrong? I have a double shift today but I can pick you up and go somewhere tomorrow after class, if you’re okay with that.”_   
  
_“The sooner the better. I don’t know what to do anymore.”_   
  
_“It’s okay. You’ll be okay. I’ll pick you up tomorrow after my morning shift. I won’t go to class when you’re so distressed. Are you willing to skip class as well and meet up with me?”_   
  
_“Yes. This is far more important, Jae. This can’t wait anymore.”_   
  
_“Okay then. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at noon. It’ll be okay, love. I promise it’ll be okay.”_

* * *

Jungwoo started crying as soon as he got in the car with Jaehyun.

The babe had woken up early and called off work only to receive a random phone call from Yukhei minutes later calling him a traitor for leaving him at work all alone. Jungwoo had smiled to himself momentarily and had promised to make it up to him some time during the week.

True to his word, the elder came to pick up the child as soon as his shift ended. Jungwoo's parents had gone to work as usual, taking Jeno along with them to drop him off at school. Doyoung, unlike Jungwoo, didn't have class until later that afternoon. The babe had nearly given the older boy a heart attack, for he, in his sleepy state, had gone down the stairs to the kitchen to find something quick to munch on before going back to bed. He had not expected, however, to find his younger brother standing in front of the fridge and glaring at its insides. 

Not that finding Jungwoo ransacking the fridge was weird (far from that, really since Jungwoo and Jeno eat the most at home), but rather the discovery of the babe refusing to eat anything. Yes, he stood in front of the fridge for several minutes trying to decide whether he wanted to force himself to eat something before leaving his house, only to learn that nothing inside the fridge looked appealing. 

So yes, excuse Doyoung for letting out an unmanly shriek as he bumped into his younger brother in the middle of an important life decision—eating or not eating.

Yes, Jungwoo got scolded by the elder for skipping class for the sake of going somewhere with “a friend,” as Jungwoo claimed. But truth is that Doyoung could sense the distress radiating off the younger male, hence why he didn't push the babe into opening up and telling him about whatever stress he was currently going through. If anything, Doyoung had simply told the babe to disappear for a few hours longer after his mother got back from work so she wouldn't question his presence in the house. 

Was Doyoung once again covering for Jungwoo and willingly becoming his partner in crime (despite him having absolutely no idea of what was going on with his brother)? Yes, definitely. And Jungwoo would forever be thankful to him for that.

Which leads precisely to this moment—Jungwoo bawling his eyes out whilst Jaehyun had to forcefully pull over for the sake of comforting his distressed boyfriend. In all honesty, when Jungwoo called him last night, Jaehyun had been willing to drive to the babe's house in the middle of the night. He was supposed to be going in for five hours only, but halfway through his shift he got requested to work another half shift since they were understaffed. It meant more money for Jaehyun to spend on Jungwoo so why not? But the real reason why he had decided to not come over revolved around one single person—Jeno.

Jeno had caught Jaehyun sneaking around their house in the middle of the night at one point, and he hadn't hesitated to threaten the elder to tell his parents about the unnecessary late visit in the middle of the night. Jaehyun had smiled at the younger boy and apologized for the inconvenience, turning around immediately and rushing down the block to go back to his car. Whatever business he had at that time of the night with Jungwoo was none of Jeno's concern, hence why he had chosen not to say anything about the matter and had even kept it a secret from his older brothers, Jungwoo included. Kind of cute really, but Jaehyun kept no secrets from the babe, hence how the child found out about his younger brother's unnecessary hostility towards the elder.

Jungwoo never brought it up however, so this is still a "secret" between Jaehyun and Jeno. Perhaps that was the reason behind Jeno's unnecessary hostility towards Jaehyun, but no one knew for sure. Perhaps they would one day, but today was not that day. 

Forcing himself out of his memories, however, the elder linked hands with his younger boyfriend and pressed a delicate kiss to the babe's knuckles. Jungwoo hadn't stopped crying yet and the brunet was getting concerned. Jungwoo cried over a lot of things, but this behaviour was not normal. He spoke to the babe every single day but he hadn't shown any sings of distress until last night. What exactly happened to haven thrown the younger boy over the edge to the extent of seeking out Jaehyun's comfort overnight? Did something happen with his brothers? Had someone made Jungwoo feel bad? If that was the case, Jaehyun was getting mentally prepared to give that person a piece of mind. Unless it was his brothers, there was absolutely no one in this world allowed to make Jungwoo cry the way he was crying right now.

 _Someone better be prepared to end up at the hospital,_ Jaehyun thought to himself.

"I don't k-know how it happened, Jae. I-I'm trying to figure it out, but I c-can't," sobbed Jungwoo, unbuckling his seat-belt momentarily and rushing to find comfort in the arms of the elder. Hence why, the brunet did the same and unbuckled his seat-belt almost immediately as well. This was the most uncomfortable hug he and Jungwoo had shared in a while, but it'd have to do for now. At least until they got out of the car and Jaehyun could embrace the babe properly.

"Take a deep breath, love. Calm down a bit and then we can talk about whatever is bothering you," said the elder, pressing a kiss to the younger boy's forehead whist the child tried his best to relax. How can you relax, however, when you're about to tell your boyfriend about the possibilities of an unwanted pregnancy? Would Jaehyun be angry? Would they break-up over this? And what if he was truly pregnant? How was he supposed to tell his brothers and his parents? And with the new found stress of the possibilities of having to tell his family about this, the babe found himself sobbing uncontrollably again. 

Jaehyun's warmth was supposed to comfort Jungwoo, but it seemed to have done the opposite. 

Slightly pulling away from the babe, the elder secured Jungwoo's seat-belt around his upper body again and then did the same for himself. He started the engine and pulled away from the curb as he turned off his emergency lights and merged into traffic again. Throughout the way, the elder kept their hands intertwined together, checking on the babe every few minutes to make sure Jungwoo was okay. The babe was still crying, but it wasn't as bad as before (thankfully).

Within ten minutes, the elder had reached the comfort of his family's apartment. Neither one of his parents were home, which turned out to be convenient for both of them. The last thing he needed was his mother butting into their business and trying her best to find out whatever was going on between them. Jaehyun loved her to death but there were a few things he'd like to keep a secret, especially from her.

Once they got past the door and locked it behind them, the elder pulled the babe closer to him and embraced him. Jungwoo didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around the elder's neck and hid his face in the crook of it. Being almost the same height had its privileges and it was one of the things Jaehyun loved the most about Jungwoo. The brunet pressed a kiss to the child's neck, earning himself a sigh of relief that had him fully smiling at the adorable male currently in his arms. The sobs had officially subsided and turned into uneven breaths, signaling Jaehyun that now was the best time to talk to the babe. Hence why, slightly pulling away from the child, the elder pecked the younger male's plump lips and earned himself an adorable smile from the the babe. He then pecked Jungwoo's cheeks, nose, and forehead, causing the babe to giggle at his loving affection whilst the brunet pulled him closer to the kitchen counter.

Jungwoo jumped on the counter almost immediately and spread his legs for the brunet to stand between them. Jaehyun placed both his hands on the babe's covered thighs and rubbed comforting circles as he silently convinced him to speak up.

And Jungwoo did. _Eventually_.

"Jae, I-I don't know how to tell you this," said the babe, playing with his fingers whist he tried his best to not make eye-contact with the elder. Jungwoo was nervous and it didn't matter how hard Jeaehyun tried to ease his nerves, nothing seemed to be working.

"Babe, you can tell me anything. Whatever problem you have, we'll fix it. I won't leave you alone."

Well crap. Jungwoo's tears were rolling down his cheeks again and Jaehyun was officially getting nervous. Jungwoo's behaviour was far from normal at this point.

"Y-You know how I mentioned I h-haven't been feeling well lately?" The brunet nodded at the babe and proceeded to press his open palm against Jungwoo's tummy. When the symptoms had started, the brunet had made it his personal task to carefully massage the babe's tummy for several minutes, hoping it'd help the babe feel better soon. Unfortunately, the symptoms persisted and Jaehyun had been too busy to come over to see him ever since. The babe hadn't brought it up for a few days now, hence why Jaehyun thought he was feeling better.

From the looks of it, he was clearly mistaken.

"Taemin took Jeno and I on a date yesterday. They joked around for a bit but made me realize something," said the babe, this time bringing his fingers to his mouth and pressing them against his lips to bite on the tips. But before he could do so, the elder took ahold of the child's hands and interlocked their fingers to stop him from hurting himself. Jungwoo's nervous habits were acting up and Jaehyun was getting even more concerned. Nevertheless, the elder nodded at the babe and encouraged him to proceed. "W-What if I'm pregnant, Jae?"

Jaehyun gulped loudly and couldn't help the way his eyes widened in realization for a moment.

It couldn't be, right? They hadn't been intimate in a while. Besides, he always pulled out on time. And Realistically speaking, Jaehyun couldn’t even remember the last time they were intimate. They were both so busy with their own lives that whenever they managed to spend time together neither of them thought about being intimate. Most of the time, they thought about spending whatever little time they had together in a healthy, innocent way. The most action they’ve had in a while has been heated make-out sessions, some of which have ended with Jaehyun fucking Jungwoo’s inner thighs—and Jaehyun loved staining the babe’s pretty thighs by the way—or with Jungwoo putting up a show for Jaehyun. 

Why? Because the time they had to spend together consisted of roughly two hours top. And as previously mentioned, Jungwoo is a horndog. One single round isn’t exactly enough to please him. Neither one of them minded though, for they both genuinely enjoyed being together regardless of whether they had sex or not—although, in all honesty, full penetration is always a plus with Jungwoo despite how badly he claims otherwise.

Which leads to the current dilemma. If they haven’t had proper sex in months, what were the chances of Jungwoo being pregnant? And if he was pregnant, how far along was he? Clearly long enough for him to be showing symptoms. A pregnancy test would not help out if the time of conception is less than two months, and there’s no way Jungwoo would be experiencing all these symptoms if he’s been pregnant for a few weeks only. Based on this quick, most definitely out-of-place logic of his, Jaehyun could conclude the babe would be somewhere along the second month, if not a little more—although the brunet was sure two months would be accurate enough despite the odds of Jungwoo's symptoms.

A pregnancy test should be able to read Jungwoo’s hormonal levels, right?

But even then, what would happen if the test came out positive? Jungwoo was barely twenty and hardly a sophomore in college. There's absolutely no way they’re ready to raise a kid. And whilst he knew his parents would be delighted with the idea of having a grandchild somewhere in the _far_ future, they wouldn’t be so happy to find out Jaehyun had made their little fantasy come true a little _too_ early.

There were so many things that they needed to accomplish prior to starting a family. Not to mention that Jungwoo's brothers would most definitely kill him. They knew of his existence (somewhat, and needless to say, Jeno knew something for sure), but Jungwoo had yet to formally introduce him as his boyfriend. Meeting up Jungwoo's family only to drop the news about the unexpected pregnancy was something Jaehyun wasn’t looking forward to. 

Abortions were something they had never talked about. That was the least of their concerns when all they were doing was spending quality time together. Who would have thought they'd end up in this awkward position?

“Jae, say something please.”

The babe’s voice was enough to pull the brunet out of his thoughts. He smiled at the child and brought his knuckles close to his lips to press a sweet kiss on them.

Jaehyun was freaking out on the inside, but there was no way he’d let Jungwoo see that side of him. Not when the babe was already having a mental breakdown over the possibilities of an unwanted baby. 

He had to be there for Jungwoo. Even if he was pregnant indeed, Jaehyun told himself he’d be the babe’s moral support. There was no way he’d let Jungwoo go through that alone.

“This is what we’re going to do. We’ll go to my room and we’ll pull out 3 pregnancy tests from my cousin’s emergency box. You’ll take two of those right now and you’ll take the third one home with you for tomorrow morning after you wake up. The readings will be more accurate if done with the first urination of the day, or so I’ve heard from my cousin. How does that sound?”

Jungwoo blinked once.

Twice.

How was Jaehyun so calm? How did he come up with a plan in the span of two minutes? What emergency stash? And how did he know so much about pregnancy tests?

“Woo, listen to me,” the brunet cupped the child’s face momentarily before he spoke again, “whatever happens, you’re not alone. I won’t leave you alone. If you are pregnant, we’ll do this together. In the meantime, I’ll need you to be strong for me and help me figure this out. I got you, baby, but please help me out, too.”

Well fuck.

Jungwoo couldn’t help the tears that rolled down his cheeks as he nodded. He didn’t even hesitate when he wrapped his arms around the elder and pressed their foreheads together. The elder pressed a kiss to the child's temple and helped him jump off the counter, immediately enveloping him in a warm embrace that had the babe nearly sobbing out of relief. 

He wasn’t alone.

Jaehyun wasn’t planning to walk away and pretend like this whole situation wasn’t happening. He had stepped forward and decided to help Jungwoo figure this shitty situation out instead of taking the easy way out.

Jungwoo couldn’t help the fluttering feeling he felt inside inside his tummy, nor did he dismiss the way in which his heart had picked up its pace. He had found some new admiration for the elder and he’d be lying if he didn’t admit to have fallen deeper in love with his boyfriend all over again. The way in which Jaehyun chose to step forward and take responsibility for his actions as opposed to breaking things off had impacted the babe in more ways than others, making him realize Jaehyun was everything he’d ever want and more.

But maybe it was too soon to think about those things. Let’s not even mention the current situation they were in.

Jaehyun pecked the child’s plump lips once more before pulling away and intertwining their hands, leading the babe to his room whilst Jungwoo followed quietly. 

Once inside the room, Jungwoo let go of his boyfriend for the sake of sitting down on the other’s bed, watching Jaehyun’s every move as he went to his closet and pulled out a medium sized yellowish box that could easily be dismissed at plain sight, for it blended almost perfectly with the pastel yellow wallpaper within the closet. 

Quite a clever way to hide things from his parents, Jungwoo thought to himself.

“What’s that?” The elder came over to the bed and placed the box on the mattress, not wasting any time to open it. “This is Donghyuck's emergency box,” said Jaehyun, proceeding to pull out three pregnancy tests, much like he said earlier, along with a pack of mini tissues for the babe since he was still crying. He handed the tissues over to the child and then closed the box and put it back inside his closet.

“I didn’t know your cousin keeps an emergency box here in your room.” Jaehyun smiled to himself momentarily before approaching the pretty male sitting on his bed. He wiped Jungwoo’s tears away with the tissue he had in hand before taking the babe’s hand (whilst holding two pregnancy tests in the other) and leading him to the kitchen again.

“I didn’t know it’d come handy one day,” the brunet pulled out a disposable cup from under the counter and then continued, “but I’m glad he keeps it here at home. And I’m actually happy that he forces me to listen to him when he’s having emotional breakdowns over the possibilities of him being pregnant.”

“Isn’t he younger than me?” Jaehyun nodded at the babe and pressed a quick kiss to his forehead before leading him away and into the bathroom. “He is, but he’s been dating his childhood friend since he was a freshman. He’s a senior now and they recently learned the perks of pulling out rather than using protection. I told Hyuck he should be careful, which is why he keeps this here at home.”

Jungwoo didn’t know much about Donghyuck other than his name and age. From what he recalls, the boy has recently turned eighteen. How many pregnancy scares has he had so far that he created an emergency kit? It was a little concerning but Jungwoo didn’t dare to pry. He couldn’t judge him, for he wasn’t a saint either. Hence why he chose to stay quiet instead.

“Here,” said Jaehyun, handing the babe both pregnancy tests and the empty disposable cup, “Call me when you’re done and we’ll take the tests together.” Before he could walk away, however, the babe held onto the sleeve of his shirt and refused to meet eyes with the elder. 

“Woo, what’s wro—”

“Please stay. Don’t leave me.”

Jungwoo was terrified. There was no way he could do this alone. Even though Jaehyun would be on the other side of the door waiting for him, the babe couldn’t find it in himself to be alone. He was terrified. Even if he tried, he knew the anxiety of being alone would get to him. He needed Jaehyun with him.

“Babe, are you positive you want me here with you? I have no issues staying, but I want you to have some privacy too.” Jungwoo shook his head almost immediately. Jaehyun was being nice and thoughtful, but Jungwoo didn’t want any space right now. He needed Jaehyun to keep him grounded; he needed the elder’s moral and emotional support. Even if all he had to do was urinate in a plastic cup, he'd make Jaehyun stay in the bathroom with him despite how irrational it sounded.

"I don't want to be alone."

"All you're doing is peeing in a cup, Woo. Are you sure you're comfortable with me being here?"

"J-Just turn around."

Jaehyun couldn't help chuckling at the younger's demand. It was quite ironic really. It's not like he hadn't seen Jungwoo naked in the past—their previous sexual adventures were the whole reason why they were in this particular situation—but he could also understand the nervousness and the sense of shame. Truthfully speaking, if Jungwoo had wanted to be alone, he would have told someone else about the current dilemma. He probably would have told Yukhei or Yuta, but he had chosen to tell Jaehyun right away instead. He trusted him enough to tell him about his concerns rather than relying on his friends. And to Jaehyun, that meant the whole world and more.

Hence why, turning around and giving the younger some "privacy" despite being in the same room with him, the brunet chose to focus on the next course of action they'd take if the tests came out positive. 

Based on previous anecdotes Jungwoo has shared with him in the past, his eldest brother, Taemin, was the voice of reason amongst all of them. If anything, Jaehyun could step forward and talk to him in regards to the baby, which, of course, they probably wouldn’t keep. But Jungwoo would need a lot of emotional support. Jeno, the one Jaehyun was more than familiar with, was the impulsive one. He probably wouldn’t hesitate to try beating him up. And quite frankly, Jaehyun wouldn’t even try to defend himself. He deserved all the hate that was probably about to come his way.

Doyoung was another story.

He wasn’t only Jungwoo’s personal protector, but based on what Jungwoo was mentioned in the past, the elder is the most serious one amongst them all. He was the instinctive one and wouldn’t hesitate to confront them about the situation. He’d need to approach the matter in a clean, direct way without fucking up his chances of Doyoung disapproving their relationship. 

He had to consider so many things. It was hardly one o’clock in the afternoon and Jaehyun was more stressed than ever before. He’d surely need a drink after this—or a few, he’d ask Taeyong to hangout sometime during the week.

“I’m done, Jae,” said the babe, washing his hands whilst the elder came from behind him and pressed a kiss to his neck. He then opened up both pregnancy tests and read the instructions in the back of the box.

Through the instructions, the brunet found out that Jungwoo had nearly filled out half of the plastic cup. Apparently, you don’t need so much urine to take a pregnancy test.

Okay, great! 

“W-Why are you smiling to yourself?” 

The elder merely shook his head and wrapped his arm around Jungwoo's waist, pulling the child closer to him as he kept on reading the instructions.

It seemed like Jungwoo was getting impatient, however, for he took both tests and proceeded to remove the cap. He then dipped both tips into the cup and pulled them out within a few seconds.

He was too nervous to keep on waiting for Jaehyun to read the instructions. It's not like a pregnancy test was hard to figure out anyway. It was pretty straightforward; Jaehyun was just being overly cautious. 

He placed the cap back in place (imagine placing a dirty, urine filled plastic stick back on the clean counter?) and then pulled the elder away. They both stood by the door with Jungwoo leaning against the elder whilst they waited for the results.

“I didn’t finish reading the instructions, Woo.” Jungwoo smiled to himself and found comfort in the arms of the brunet. He could be adorable sometimes. 

“I know how to read a pregnancy test, Jae. Don’t worry about it, Taemin trained me well in the reading department.”

“Then why did you pee so much?”

Jungwoo blinked several times to show his confusion. 

“Was I not supposed to fill out at least half of the cup?”

“Based on what Hyuck has told me in the past and according to the instructions in the back of the box, you only need a small amount.”

Jungwoo blinked several times again to show further confusion. He had no idea about the amount of pee required to take a pregnancy test. Taemin didn’t even use a plastic cup. He urinated directly on the tip of the stick, hence why Jungwoo had absolutely no idea about the amount of urine required.

The things you learn when you read detailed instructions.

“Will the amount of pee affect the results?” asked the babe, genuinely curious and already worrying about messing up. Thankfully for him, his boyfriend shook his head and merely pressed his body closer, taking a few seconds to peck Jungwoo’s lips whilst the child whined and shied away from his boyfriends attention.

And when the three minutes were up, according to Jungwoo’s calculations, he picked up both pregnancy tests and gave them to Jaehyun. 

The elder eyed the sticks in confusion for a moment.

“One single line means a negative. Two lines mean a positive,” said the babe, covering his eyes with both hands and mentally preparing himself for what was coming. 

Without wasting any time, Jaehyun released a nervous sigh and internally encouraged himself to look at the results. These results could either bless them or curse them, but it was more than clear that it needed to be done. 

Which is why, throwing his anxiety out the window, the brunet checked the results.

And then gasped. 

“W-What is it?”

Jaehyun made eye contact with the babe and gulped rather loudly. The babe took both pregnancy tests away from Jaehyun and checked them himself.

One line.

One single line.

“They’re both negative, Woo. You’re not pregnant. I think we’re okay.”

Jungwoo didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around the elder’s neck, hiding his face in the crook of his neck almost immediately whilst the elder let out a sigh of relief. He reciprocated the younger boy’s embrace, slightly turning his head a bit to press a kiss to the babe's forehead. 

Jungwoo wasn’t pregnant. Those were the most wonderful news he had heard so far today. If anything, Jungwoo was in the same state, smiling to himself as he finally found it in himself to breathe properly again. A burden had been lifted off his shoulders. He felt like he could cry and scream out of happiness, for he didn’t need to worry about the probabilities of conceiving. 

And those were wonderful news, not only for both of them but for everyone else as well. That meant Jungwoo could keep Jaehyun hidden for a little while longer. And likewise, Jaehyun didn’t need to worry anymore about having to break the news to his parents.

Pulling away from the elder’s embrace, the child shoved in both pregnancy tests into their respective boxes and walked out of the bathroom. Jaehyun followed him closely as the babe opened a kitchen drawer and pulled out a black plastic bag. He shoved in both boxes and then threw it away.

If there was one thing he had learned about Taemin, then it was the proper way to hide evidence. And whilst Jaehyun’s parents wouldn’t particularly check the trash can (who had time for that anyway?), the babe couldn’t find it in himself to just be careless about these things. There was no need to get Jaehyun in trouble.

“I’ll still take the third test tomorrow, Jae. Just to make sure,” said the babe, turning around for a moment only to find Jaehyun standing right behind him again. The brunet didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around Jungwoo’s smaller waist, pulling the boy closer to him and nodding at whatever he had just said.

He had wanted to do this since the moment the babe got in the car. Unfortunately, he had to be a good boyfriend and had to comfort the babe first.

But there was no need to do such thing now.

The elder had immediately proceeded to mold their lips together in a slow kiss, taking his time to explore the babe's cave whilst he pressed his body closer. Jungwoo wrapped his arms around Jaehyun’s neck and deepening the kiss, further allowing the elder access into his mouth as he sucked on his tongue and turned the kiss into a heated make-out session.

The child felt shivers going down his spine as Jaehyun’s hands rubbed around his sensitive skin, fingers tracing and pressing harshly, almost desperately, against his flesh as he pulled him even closer to him.

And God knows how badly Jaehyun wanted to devour every single inch of the babe's body as soon as Jungwoo allowed himself to moan into kiss, causing a shiver to go down the brunet’s body whilst the elder fought the need to mark the child’s porcelain skin.

Which is precisely why, realizing that his body was starting to react to Jungwoo, the brunet broke the kiss and pulled away from the younger male. Instead pulling the child closer and embracing him once again, enveloping him in a sweet embrace whilst Jungwoo allowed himself to be momentarily intoxicated by Jaehyun’s natural scent.

He missed this. 

He missed his boyfriend’s affectionate nature. And now that the fright of being parents at such a young age was gone, the child was merely left with the burning desire of being touched and defiled by the elder. 

But hey! They had just had a pregnancy scare. They were not about to rush into another one.

“I love you, Jae. Thank you for being there for me,” said the child, further pressing his face against his boyfriend’s neck whilst he brushed his lips against Jaehyun’s sensitive flesh.

“I love you, too,” said the elder, smiling to himself whilst he rocked them from side to side in the middle of the kitchen, kindly reminding himself that they had a whole eternity to spend together. 

There was no need to rush into their intimacy again, not when they had previously been beyond distressed and at the verge of a mental breakdown.   
The rest of the afternoon was spent cuddling together and catching up on whatever Netflix show they could find. Jaehyun attempted to feed Jungwoo, but the child’s stomach had completely rejected the food and had sent him on a trip to the toilet within minutes after consumption. 

But at least they knew Jungwoo wasn’t pregnant, and that single fact alone brought them both a sense of relief.

After that, Jungwoo fell asleep in the arms of the elder for about two hours, giving him time to recover from the early morning stress. And Jaehyun didn’t bother letting him go, not when he got hungry all over again or when his bladder demanded for a break from the couch. Instead, he wrapped his arms around the child and found a more comfortable position for both of them.

After all, Jungwoo had gone through a hard time for the last two days, and Jaehyun? Well, he was simply glad for being lucky enough to be part of Jungwoo’s life (despite being the reason behind the newfound stress Jungwoo had to go through).

* * *

“A stomach flu?”

Jungwoo found himself sitting in Jaehyun’s living room two weeks later, this time munching on a bowl of chocolate cereal whilst the elder worked on some physics homework he was supposed to turn in the following week.

Apparently, Taemin had taken Jungwoo to the doctor the following week as promised. After a general check-up was performed, the doctor told Taemin that his brother had caught a stomach flu, hence why he had been experiencing uncomfortable symptoms for weeks now.

If anything, the doctor was rather surprised to find out the babe had chosen to put up with the symptoms on his own rather than visiting the doctor. It’s not like it was a serious condition, but the symptoms were probably awful and uncomfortable to deal with.

If only the doctor knew about everything he had gone through prior to that appointment.

“Yeah. But I’m okay now.”

Smiling at the child, the elder blew him a kiss from his side of the couch, smiling to himself when Jungwoo’s cheeks turned into a pretty shade of red.

Yes, Jungwoo was the cutest person alive, or so Jaehyun believed. 

“I can’t believe we went through all that because of a stomach flu,” said Jungwoo, leaving the empty bowl on the center table and slowly scooting closer to the elder. Jaehyun, noticing that his boyfriend was slowly finding his way over, chose to close his book and pushed his notes away.

He was about to take a well deserved break after an hour of _not_ solving a single problem. 

“I mean, I think we learned a valuable lesson from this though.” At that, Jungwoo raised an eyebrow and waited for the brunet to continue, “we learned how to use a pregnancy test for the first time ever.”

Unable to stop himself from chuckling, the child claimed Jaehyun’s lap and stranded him in place. The elder wrapped his arms around Jungwoo’s waist, smiling to himself whilst he slowly pulled the babe's face closer.

“I hope you also learned that, regardless of what we’re going through, I’ll always stay by your side despite the endless loads of stress and insecurities that’ll come along. Do you want to know why?” 

The child nodded almost instantly. 

“Because I love you. I love you so much that walking away from you is not an option. It never was, and it’ll never be. So next time you’re going through something like this again, don’t hesitate, babe. Just come to me and we’ll figure it out. One way or another, we’ll find a way to figure it out.”

Well fuck.

Jungwoo was ready to start crying. 

So what if they were both useless young adults that had absolutely no idea about the dangers of playing with fire? Jaehyun was willing to stay with him through thick and thin, and that was all Jungwoo wanted. So excuse him for getting emotional and crying a bit.

“For the record, I happen to love you too, Jae. Thank you.”

And then Jungwoo joined their lips in a slow dance, taking his time to pour his heart into that kiss to show the elder how much he loved him. And likewise, Jaehyun didn’t hesitate to deepen it, only worrying about leaving his special mark on the child whilst the babe internally struggled to cope with the fluttering feeling in his tummy.

God knew how badly in love he was with Jung Jaehyun. He didn’t even know it’d be possible for him to fall in love with him all over again, but it happened. But he couldn’t complain, not when he was so in love and thankful to the elder for showing him a new side of him. 

A first pregnancy scare? Jungwoo couldn’t help internally chuckling at the irony. There would probably be plenty of those in the future, but for now kissing Jaehyun and basking in his love and attention would be enough. And Jaehyun was more than willing to comply.

Because they were both young, dumb, and in love.


End file.
